1961 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final
# 1961 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship final

The 1961 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship Final was the 74th All-Ireland Final and the deciding match of the 1961 All-Ireland Senior Football Championship, an inter-county Gaelic football tournament for the top teams in Ireland. A crowd of 90,556 (a record at the old Croke Park) watched the match between Down and Offaly.

## Match

The biggest crowd ever to attend Croke Park saw an explosive opening to the match - Offaly's Mick Casey and Peter Daly got goals to put them six points ahead with the match barely begun. Down recovered with three goals by half-time, and led by two points with minutes to go. Har Donnelly had a 21-yard free for Offaly, and took a point when a goal was really needed.

## Legacy

This was Down's second appearance in an All-Ireland final, and their second win from two. It was the second of three All-Ireland football titles won by Down in the 1960s, which made them joint "team of the decade" with Galway who also won three.

